


Don't Stray From The Path

by WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken



Series: We either make it, or break it. [7]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Sexual Assault, Gen, M/M, Mentioned Stray Kids Ensemble, Non-Consensual Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 12:16:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21446080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken/pseuds/WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken
Summary: Jisung figured out pretty quickly that someone was following him.It was a close call.Areallyclose call.But thank God that guy and his friends were there.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Series: We either make it, or break it. [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1439083
Comments: 5
Kudos: 427





	Don't Stray From The Path

**Author's Note:**

> What even is this...?
> 
> Whatever.
> 
> As long as someone finds it entertaining.

Jisung likes to think that he isn’t a very paranoid person, that he has a good grip on reality, that he isn’t particularly uncomfortable with spending time wandering around at night.

He _likes_ the dark, actually. There’s something so calming about it, how the world finally stops for a second and gives you a moment to breathe and think. The pressure and demands of the people around him and society in general go to sleep with together _with_ those people, leaving a world that’s just on pause until the sun rises again.

Now, it isn’t as if he struggles with life in general but it is nice to have time to be completely himself and do whatever he wants to do without someone criticizing or questioning his choices.

But right now, had to admit that he wished someone had made him think a bit more about the choice he had made just a couple of minutes ago.

For some reason, he had thought that taking the short route was a good idea. After all, he was tired and maybe a bit tipsy – a tad bit too much to make really well thought-out decisions – and he just really wanted to get to bed as soon as possible.

He had indulged his friends for hours and hours, finally saying ‘yes’ to going out with them. They always asked him to go to their favourite bar in the weekends, but Jisung didn’t specifically like to throw himself into a big crowd of half-drunk horny people, leaving him vulnerable to anything negative that came with interacting with people who weren’t typically in their right mind.

That was just not his idea of having a good time and his friends knew that but they never gave up on their endeavour to get him to join them. So after months and months of declining, he couldn’t stand Chan’s pout or Hyunjin’s fake crying anymore and he had agreed.

They said it would be fun and even though they had to physically drag Jisung out of his dorm because he second-guessed the whole thing, he had thoroughly enjoyed himself. To be honest, it had taken a couple of beers and maybe a couple of shots of whatever Chan had ordered them, but in the end, he hadn’t wanted to leave.

He had felt so free and the euphoria of the alcohol rushing through his veins and taking over his limbs had been a welcome change from his normal Saturday-night activities.

It had ended all too soon – Hyunjin too drunk and almost getting whisked away by some random stranger if it hadn’t been for Chan dragging the boy out of the bar – and now Jisung found himself walking alone after convincing Chan that he was sober enough to find his way home in one piece.

But he was now seriously starting to doubt that.

Jisung was someone who had a great imagination. He liked coming up with alternative storylines of the books he read, he loved painting more than anything else in life – his portfolio full of fairies and anything fantasy - and that was great because that exact same imagination had landed him a spot at the Academy of Multi-Media Design.

However, that seemed to be really working against him now.

Because he could _swear_ that the exact same guy had been walking behind him ever since he had left the bar and he wasn’t really sure if he was imagining it or if it was actually real this time.

He had noticed it when he had crossed the very busy street with too many people to get to the other side without bumping into at least thirty people. 

As he had pushed his way through, he caught sight of some guy with a very ugly baseball-cap doing the same behind him but with a bit more aggression, like he was in a real hurry. It hadn’t pegged him as strange at first, but it continued and Jisung had seen the guy’s eyes trained on him from the corner of his eyes.

It had started to gnaw at him more and more and with that came the anxiety, his breathing getting a bit more shallow and his blood rushing through his veins.

So he had sped up when he suddenly felt his muscles tense when he made eye-contact with the guy. After speed-walking and getting to the other side of the street, he thought he had lost the guy and he so stupidly had deemed it safe enough to take the familiar shortcut home. 

Now, Jisung was aware that maybe it wasn’t the best choice because the alley was narrow and dark and veered away from the crowd but he was really done with today and he just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

He had waded through the mass of bodies and when he had stepped into the alley, he could finally breathe again. The previous anxiety decreased and had actually laughed at himself for being so overdramatic. Probably a side effect from hanging out with Hyunjin and Seungmin so much.

But of course he had let his guard down too soon.

He hadn’t even taken a couple of steps before he saw the same baseball-cap from the corner of his eyes, getting closer instead of further away.

Like everyone would’ve, he had sped up but that only seemed to make things worse because now he could actually _hear_ heavy footsteps behind him picking up as well.

So that’s how Jisung now found himself hastily navigating the maze of little alleyways in search of the big street his dorm was at, well aware of the fact that his chest was getting tighter and tighter and how it seemed like the air he breathed in wasn’t really settling into his lungs.

He didn’t know when he had gotten to running, but he realised he was running when he heard loud breathing matching his own behind him. 

Too close.

By now, the adrenaline had turned his head a bit mushy and strangely sharp at the same time, making him feel like he was having an out-of-body experience. It was weird and it made his stomach churn uncomfortably and he noticed how damp the back of his neck suddenly was.

And that’s when his brain finally caught up with the situation and what it could lead to and he really started freaking out.

It was almost too dark to see where he was going and Jisung cursed the lack of lighting when he almost tripped on a random rock and thereby losing distance. But he kept repeating in his head that it was all still okay. He was almost there and then there would be people around and everything would soon be forgotten.

He rounded one of the last corners and he was so incredibly sure that he was going to be fine that he actually turned around to get a good look at who was following him, causing him to slow down again because running backwards wasn’t really his specialty.

The stranger was closer than he had expected and so, that previous relief went flying off into space and the heavy feeling from before came crashing down on his shoulders again and he suddenly noticed how _quiet_ it was, how secluded the area he was in was.

Jisung had given up precious distance and speed and in the end, he hadn’t been able to make the guy’s features out at all. He was like a dark shadow and the occasional light didn’t do anything to help Jisung out.

So with that, he turned forwards again and ran. He wasn’t sure if he had ever managed to reach the speed he was currently going at but now was not the time to be surprised or proud about it.

The breathing and the footsteps behind him slowly creeped up on him and he tried to go even faster, but it didn’t work and it dawned on him that there was a real possibility things _wouldn’t_ turn out fine.

The last corner came into sight and Jisung prayed to anyone who would listen for help with getting back to the human world.

So close.

He was _so_ close that he could see the end of the alley and the neon light and people walking and cars speeding by on the street…

And that’s when an arm suddenly wrapped around his neck and he got tugged backwards. 

With a loud yelp he stumbled over his own feet and crashed into the person behind him and when it registered in his brain that he had been _caught_, the end of the alley was already almost completely out of sight.

That’s when he could feel the tears making their way out of his eyes and the world went silent.

He trashed and wiggled and kicked but nothing seemed to help. If any, it seemed to make the guy more annoyed and a hand landed on Jisung’s mouth, effectively cutting off his screams for help. Rough panting filled his ear and Jisung had the urge to throw up – the alcohol he had previously downed not helping.

A piercing cold had settled in his bones and he got overwhelmed by the realisation that he was probably going to get robbed or murdered, making his trashing a bit more desperate.

In the midst of it all, he suddenly found himself pushed up against a wall, a hand around his neck and a hand under his shirt.

That’s when the real fear set in.

And it was as if a switch flipped when ice-cold fingers hooked themselves around the waistband of jeans, making Jisung realise he hadn’t even though of that kind of turn of events.

The previous fear morphed into something else and instead of his muscles locking up, it felt like they were more present than before and he suddenly felt _stronger_, like he gained muscle-mass out of nowhere.

The guy pressed himself closer and Jisung just snapped.

He was angry.

He was furious, to be precise.

So without thinking much, he found the strength to get one of his arms out of te guy’s grip and even though he wasn’t a violent person, his brain kept screaming at him to go for the weak spots.

And he did.

He managed to push the guy back a little bit and punched him in the throat with every ounce of power he could gather.

The guy let out a strange mix between a cough and a splutter and stepped back in an instant, enabling Jisung to shove the guy as hard as possible. Said guy fell backwards and that was Jisung’s cue to get going.

He quickly jumped over the guy and got running, not looking back even once to see who he was running from or in which state he was in. 

God had Jisung been stupid.

Using the alleys was just asking for trouble and he should’ve had known better. Being a guy didn’t automatically mean he didn’t need to be careful at night.

But as he finally stepped out of the alley, he figured he was fine and that this all would just serve as a lesson he would never forget. He was so, so convinced that he was okay that he hadn’t noticed that he was just standing there, spacing out and thereby missing that the guy had gotten up until he heard a loud cough behind him. 

He got zapped out of it right away and he spun around and saw that the guy was walking towards him again, a hand rubbing his throat and eyes set in pure hatred.

Surely, the guy wasn’t going to try to pull him back now that Jisung was surrounded by people again, was he?

However, he didn’t want to test that theory because he was afraid of the result. 

And now that he though about it, it probably wasn’t the best idea to blindly run home and lead the guy straight to where he lived. Maybe that was a bit dramatic on his part but now that he was fired up, he was going to try to play it safe.

He needed the guy to back off on his own, but how was he going to do that?

Loud laughing then came from Jisung’s left and his eyes fell on a group of guys standing in front of a punching machine outside of what looked like an arcade, playfully shoving each other and doubled over in laughter.

They seemed to be having fun and like decent human beings _at least_ and Jisung was sold when one of the guys made eye-contact with him and smiled before turning back to whatever they had been doing.

So purely on instinct, Jisung dashed over to the group and took a hold of the arm of the guy that had smiled at him before, positioning himself in such a way that cap-guy couldn’t see him.

He could feel the muscle in the guy’s arm tense under his hand and he waited for the guy to turn his head.

‘’Ehhm, hello?,’’ the boy spoke, clearly uncomfortable by Jisung suddenly latching himself onto him.

For a second, Jisung was stunned.

Somehow he had managed to find the most handsome guy he had ever come across, his jawline the right sharpness, his eyes a beautiful dark brown, his hair a dark-blond and a bit wavy...

Plus, the smell of some kind of weird cologne filled his nostrils, making him feel strangely at ease.

‘’I’m Minho,’’ the guy continued, looking sceptical as hell and took a few glances at the guys around him before settling his eyes back on Jisung, ‘’and you are…?,’’ 

‘’I’m being followed,’’ Jisung rushed out as he clung onto the guy even more, staring right into his eyes.

He studied Minho’s face and hoped that he looked desperate enough for the guy to understand the severity of the situation, that he was in serious trouble. Jisung got a raised brow and he could hear mumbling around him and for a second he feared that he would get called weird or crazy and that the guy would shove him away, maybe making fun of him as they laughed in his face.

Jisung timidly looked over Minho’s shoulder to see where the other guy was and he flinched when he saw him standing a couple of meters away, just watching them.

He really needed a plan B.

Maybe he could stake out in the arcade he found himself in front of? Maybe he could hold the guy off long enough to call Chan? 

But he didn’t really want to bother the older guy either and he was sure Chan would never let him go home alone for the rest of his life when he found out about this, not even in daylight.

However, his mind came to a grinding halt when the guy tapped his cheek and Jisung looked up, seeing a frown on this Minho-guy’s face.

‘’Is it the guy with the cap behind me?,’’ Minho whispered as he took a step closer, his eyes burning with something Jisung couldn’t quite put his finger on. The closest he got was anger and worry, but that wasn’t quite it either.

Jisung just nodded vehemently and let out a shaky sigh, feeling the aftermath of the adrenaline already setting in.

Minho shot his head up and looked at the guys around him, nodding before turning back to Jisung, ‘’We can walk you back home if you want?,’’

Hell yes.

Jisung very much wanted that, even though this Minho was technically a stranger as well, he put his trust in the guy. 

He took his chances.

‘’Yes please,’’ he whispered out, only now taking notice of how shaky he felt.

Minho seemed to notice as well and gently smiled at him before wiggling his arm free from Jisung’s grip and throwing it over his shoulders.

Jisung was a bit startled but he relaxed when there was a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder before he got pulled flush against Minho, ‘’Okay, lead the way squirrel-boy,’’

The rest of the guys snorted and chuckled and that’s when Jisung took a quick glance around. There were four of them standing around Jisung and Minho like some sort of protective circle and he had never felt this grateful in his life.

Thank god these guys had been around.

‘’Jisung,’’

Minho tilted his head and let out a questioning hum, indicating he hadn’t heard what he had said and Jisung figured he had been too quiet, so he took a deep breath in an attempt to find his voice again, ‘’I’m Jisung,’’

Then Minho’s eyes seemed to disappear as he smiled again, ‘’Well, nice to meet you Jisung,’’

On the way back home, Jisung actually found himself relaxing and melting into Minho, occasionally laughing at some of lame jokes one of the guys spouted – Woojin, if he remembered correctly – and he just felt... _safe_.

Credit to Minho especially, because the guy had kept him close the entire time and had even started to hum a melody that Jisung didn’t recognize, but it slowed down his brain and breathing anyways.

After navigating the whole group back to his dorms, he found himself sleepy from the sudden drop of adrenaline and didn’t really think about it when he pulled Minho in for a bone-crushing hug after thanking the group.

Minho chuckled and held onto Jisung just as hard and when the guy mumbled something along the lines of ‘you are okay’ and ‘be careful’ in his ear, Jisung figured he didn’t really want to let go. But he had to so he did, instantly missing the other’s warmth.

However, the warmth came crashing back in when Minho leaned closed and placed the softest little kiss on his forehead and ran his fingers though his hair, telling Jisung once again that he was okay and that everything would be better tomorrow.

And as he watched the guys slowly disappear around the corner, he couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely at the lack of people around him.

But as he dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he made his way into the building, the feeling almost instantly disappeared. 

His fingers brushed against a piece of paper in his pocket and he frowned, not remembering putting anything in there. 

The last thing he expected was seeing a phone number messily scribbled on the back of an old receipt, combined with a ‘sleep tight’ and signed by none other than Minho just as he stepped into his room.

More than wondering how the guy had managed to sneak it onto his pocket without him knowing or even having had the opportunity to write it, Jisung found himself grinning like an idiot and he was really grateful his roommate wasn’t in to see it.

And even though he was sure it would take some time for him to really be okay with what had happened just an hour prior, he felt like it was going to be okay.  
Especially when he woke up the next morning with a reply to his text, Minho asking if he was free today and wanted to go on a date.

Yeah.

Things were going to be more than okay.


End file.
